He only nods his reply.
“I can’t wait two days… I need to get back.” I shove up from the chairs and begin to pace the room. “My aunt is probably worried sick.” I run my hands through the hair that I left loose, tugging on the strands. Guilt sweeps through me as I think of the panic I’m already likely causing Fleur, let alone making her wait two days. I never should’ve followed those wisps.
“Liv.”
Bastian’s voice is stern, causing me to halt my pacing and simultaneous mental spiral.
“There’s nothing I can do about the journey taking two days. I also don’t know how much your human body can take of the journey; you should prepare for it to maybe take longer. But Iwilltake you. I swear it.” For once, his face isn’t entirely hiding his thoughts. It’s sympathetic. Warm. Well, warm for him. It implores me to trust him on this.
I chew on my bottom lip as I think, his eyes tracking the movement. Two days. That’s so much time. The guilt continues to overwhelm me at knowing it’s my fault I’m even in this situation in the first place. I don’t really think I have another choice. “Okay,” I whisper my acceptance. “When do we leave?”
He lets out a sigh and I know I won’t like this answer either. “We shouldn’t leave until tomorrow morning. It’s getting too late in the morning already and I’ll need to prepare, gather some supplies.”
I take a deep, centering breath. “Okay, fine. Tomorrow morning.” I let my eyes slide to the window, catching a glimpse of the early morning light. I’m reluctant to do it, but I’m putting my trust in his hands. I can’t tell if he’s telling me the truth. I don’t know if he will actually get me home, but I don’t have any other options, so I have to trust him.
“So,how exactly do we get to… wherever it is we’re going?” I try to ask Bastian over the evening meal he prepared. The bowl of stew in front of me has my mouth watering. It’s some sort of gamey meat mixed with chunky root vegetables. The meat practically melts in my mouth and the flavors are rich and a little spicy. It’s such a simple meal but for some reason it’s better than anything I’ve ever had in the human realm. I don’t know if it’s something about being in Alinea or if it’s in my head. Or maybe he’s just that good a cook. I suppose anything is possible at this point.
I barely saw him the entire day after breakfast, but I know he was around, in and out of the cottage. He spent most of the morning in the nearby village gathering whatever supplies he deemed we needed. But it’s only a two-day trip, so I can’t imagine it’s too much… Although, the stacks of wrapped parcels on the counter beg to differ.
He scoops up a spoonful of stew, pausing before bringing it fully to his mouth. “There’s a portal outside a town called Grimhallow?—”
“The name doesn’t inspire confidence,” I pipe up, before spooning more stew into my mouth.
He carries on as if I didn’t say a word. “Normally, I’d recommend we go by horseback since we could make it in one day if we pushed hard. But that would draw a bit more attention than either of us probably want. So we’ll have to go by foot. We’ll skirt around the outskirts of the palace to avoid anyone there and then carry on to Grimhallow. We’ll have to make camp somewhere for an evening, so I hope you’ll be amenable to sleeping on the ground.”
Sleeping on the ground isn’t at all what concerns me about making camp. “I thought you said there were monsters to be wary of after dark?”
“There are. But we’ll hopefully be far enough from the forest that it should remain peaceful enough for you to get a few hours of rest. Besides, I don’t need as much rest, so I’ll be on watch duty.”
“Are you sure we can’t get some horses?” I plead. The idea of sleeping in the elements where all manner of creature can sneak up doesn’t fill me with confidence, so I doubt I’d get that ‘few hours rest’ he intends.
“I’m positive. I have a horse of my own, but I wouldn’t be able to procure a second without raising some questions from people that I don’t have good answers for.” He shoots me a look over his spoon that silences any further arguments on my tongue.
I huff out a breath, blowing some stray wisps of hair from my face. “Fine. Walking it is.”
We eat the rest of our meals in silence, but my eyes occasionally drift from the dish in front of me to watch him for a moment before I catch myself. I’m still trying to figure him out. He’s an asshole. Plain and simple. And he oozes danger. Maybe even a little arrogance. But for whatever reason that I’m not privy to, he’s kinder than I would’ve expected. Especially for an Unseelie Fae, who are always depicted as being brutal and vicious and feral. So far, he’s shown me none of that.
Sure, he acts like a dick and has a bit of a bad attitude but when I get back home and recount this story to Tom, I wouldn’t use any of those words to describe him.
Gods, whatamI going to tell Tom? And Fleur?
Fleur is going to lose her mind about me being gone. She’ll be happy once I’m home safe and sound, but I know I’m in for a scolding that’ll last a lifetime.
Tom on the other hand… He’s going to think I’m crazy. No way in the hells will he ever believe I actually fell through a portal. The two of us used to laugh at the stories that would be shared in taverns over mugs of ale. We believed them to be farfetched and another drunkard's tall tale. Is he going to laugh at me too?
These are the thoughts that follow me through the rest of the evening as I get myself ready to spend yet another night in this strange land.
This time, I’m far less exhausted that it takes me a long while before sleep tries to pull me under. Even surrounded by the oddly comforting pine and citrus scent.
I wakeup alone in the clearing near the portal I fell through into Alinea, recognizing it almost immediately. In a blink, the red-haired woman appears in front of me uttering her nonsense.
“One with heart so pure…” the woman says, her words for once making a complete sentence. The sound of her voice trails in and out though so I still only catch every few words. “…cross paths with darkness…”
I try to back away from her, since clearly trying to approach her in the last few did nothing to change anything. For every step I take, she takes another towards me.
“…light and darkness meet…”
“Liv?” My name echoes through the clearing, but I can’t find the source.
